I did the same thing, Kelley on a two week trip to Europe this summer. Took a sketchbook sketching supplies, intended to sketch all about our trip every day but instead I experienced I saw I tasted I noticed and I had a great time. I did write a travel journal that has come very handy and I will now sketch at home, but it just seemed like I would have to step out of the actual experience to sketch the experience. Now we’re home, I look forward to re-experiencing our trip as I sketch . Thanks for affirming my choice😊
Thanks, Cindy! Yes, I jotted down the main things we did each day because it's so easy for everything to blur together. But it was just basic notes. And it's fun to go back through the notes and photos and, as you say, re-experience the trip this way!
I m strange.. I have to have pen to paper where ever I go. My brain insists on it. I get ideas all the time. Everything is inspiring to me. Remember Albert Instein said.. Imagination is way more important than knowledge. I understand that now. That s why we have to incourage our children to day dream and develop that curiosity to invent, with one s imagination, that s pricelessl! Embrace it and like a horse, let go of the reins and fly! Just let it go and you ll be so amazed. As a child that was always my safe place, my private garden, to talk to God and invent and go through paper like crazy!
That s a gift straight from the ultimate artist,,God.
Yes I think a lot of creators work that way! For me, I sometimes have to just take things in and process before I can transform them into something else.
I like that, creators. When you really look around, could be the city or in the country, anywhere, everything can inspire the creator in you, inspiration , let it take you away!
Welcome home! And yes, I agree with you on the drawing during the journey---I spent 21days in Ireland, drew in my journal prior by planning, made a list of the places i didn't want to miss, even drew the clothes i would take (as few as possible), wrote out some poems by famous poets to inspire me once i got there, but in the end did ONLY two wc drawings 'en plein aire' and took 2000 plus photos everywhere......sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't., the idea of drawing....you made some great memories and you can prolong the trip by drawing now.
Wow, you really prepped for your trip! That's actually a great idea to do so much work in advance--it prolongs the trip on the front end just like I'm prolonging it on the back end. Fun!
oh gawd, did i! I anticipated the joy of weaving Ireland into my consciousness so much----seamus heaney, john o'donahoe, the lyrics to raglan road was written in that diary-journal-love letter to the green islands. Don't forget the ephemera collected also and still being worked onto the pages.....keep adding more adventures and illustrations of course...a neverending trip.
Love this, and look you're already making art from your trip! I enjoyed reading through the things that you DID do (hello, Ted Lasso pub). This is usually what's happens to me when I travel too (no art until I get back) and yet I always have to bring supplies anyway because the one time I don't...
Ha, yes, I'm glad I was prepared with supplies in case I felt inspired (or just less exhausted!), but I'm also glad I let myself NOT do it. A pint at the Ted Lasso pub deserves my full attention! 😂 (I'm going to update this post to add your wonderful travel art supply post!)
You did so many good things! I just got home from Idaho without any sketching - but I painted a scene later from the trip. I adore the scenes you recreated later!!!
Thanks, Amy! I feel extra pressure about living out "the habit of art" and seeing so many awesome travel journals (like yours!), but sometimes it has to happen later!
It’s SO hard! I started out doing some sketching on my past two trips, but got so engrossed in experiencing and eating and having a great time, that there was no way I could keep up! I just took a few notes and a lot of pictures and then did my sketches and writing once I got home :)
Cheers to Scandinavia- my bonus mom is Finnish and we went back last year! 😁
This is exactly my story, Kelcey. I always pack sketchbooks, pens, paints, and brushes when I travel, only to end up using none of them. Any free time I get is usually spent writing in my diary. But on my recent trip, I decided to break that habit (on iPad mainly). Now, I’m making a point to sketch my way through it.
I've learned two things about this. First, is that I've made space for sketching on trips, but rarely in the way everyone tells you to capture the big places. Usually, it is over dinner or during breaks when the scenery isn't optimal but the time is. Second, in researching for a book on creativity, I found that the norm for many, if not most, people (at least those with limited time on a trip) is this: Few creative breakthroughs happen on the trip. But then 2 weeks or so after the return...BOOM! For me, writing ideas tend to start flooding in on the fight home but sketching ideas take longer. So the best advice I've heard and have given on this is this: There are no norms. Everyone is different. It's awesome to sketch on a trip. It's also awesome to, in a way, extend the trip by weeks or months by allowing all that you became on the trip to incubate and take hold so that later, you use the experience to make something. I love how you capture all this and I hope people feel the permission not to have to do it like everyone else tells you you should.
Thanks for this, Steve! I appreciate hearing that there's some research to support this experience! As someone promoting "the habit of art," I felt bad about not travel sketching (or even wanting to), but it was freeing to just let myself get over it.
Love how you represent your experiences as petals. Sounds like you had an amazing experience and seems soaking it up was even more productive for creativity. The pubs alone sound awesome.
Thanks for mentioning the petals, Renee! I had a whole visual metaphor in mind where the seeds fell from the flower and planted the future art...but just let it go elsewhere! (And yes, the PUBS! So fab.)
Beautiful. I especially love the pacing—the way the illustration of the beach blooms because of the space in the drawing and also where you placed it. I loved this piece
Thanks, Rebecca! I appreciate that you mention that pacing decision. I initially had the sunset written within one of the petals, but I realized it would resonate more in the post--the way it did in real life--if I separated it out, and the next thing I knew, I was drawing the sunset!
Oh, Carolyn, I forgot that your travel sketchbook was another that inspired me to do it! I loved how you used collage etc! (I'm going to add a link mentioning that in this post.) But yes it's fun to do some sketching after the fact!
I did the same thing, Kelley on a two week trip to Europe this summer. Took a sketchbook sketching supplies, intended to sketch all about our trip every day but instead I experienced I saw I tasted I noticed and I had a great time. I did write a travel journal that has come very handy and I will now sketch at home, but it just seemed like I would have to step out of the actual experience to sketch the experience. Now we’re home, I look forward to re-experiencing our trip as I sketch . Thanks for affirming my choice😊
Thanks, Cindy! Yes, I jotted down the main things we did each day because it's so easy for everything to blur together. But it was just basic notes. And it's fun to go back through the notes and photos and, as you say, re-experience the trip this way!
I m strange.. I have to have pen to paper where ever I go. My brain insists on it. I get ideas all the time. Everything is inspiring to me. Remember Albert Instein said.. Imagination is way more important than knowledge. I understand that now. That s why we have to incourage our children to day dream and develop that curiosity to invent, with one s imagination, that s pricelessl! Embrace it and like a horse, let go of the reins and fly! Just let it go and you ll be so amazed. As a child that was always my safe place, my private garden, to talk to God and invent and go through paper like crazy!
That s a gift straight from the ultimate artist,,God.
Yes I think a lot of creators work that way! For me, I sometimes have to just take things in and process before I can transform them into something else.
I like that, creators. When you really look around, could be the city or in the country, anywhere, everything can inspire the creator in you, inspiration , let it take you away!
Welcome home! And yes, I agree with you on the drawing during the journey---I spent 21days in Ireland, drew in my journal prior by planning, made a list of the places i didn't want to miss, even drew the clothes i would take (as few as possible), wrote out some poems by famous poets to inspire me once i got there, but in the end did ONLY two wc drawings 'en plein aire' and took 2000 plus photos everywhere......sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't., the idea of drawing....you made some great memories and you can prolong the trip by drawing now.
Wow, you really prepped for your trip! That's actually a great idea to do so much work in advance--it prolongs the trip on the front end just like I'm prolonging it on the back end. Fun!
oh gawd, did i! I anticipated the joy of weaving Ireland into my consciousness so much----seamus heaney, john o'donahoe, the lyrics to raglan road was written in that diary-journal-love letter to the green islands. Don't forget the ephemera collected also and still being worked onto the pages.....keep adding more adventures and illustrations of course...a neverending trip.
I'm pretty sure it is Abigail Thomas who says of writing that 'thinking about writing is also writing'. Same applies to art, it seems to me...
Hear, hear! I know that I was soaking things in and processing even if I wasn't technically putting pen to paper.
EXACTLY! All that work will show up on the page one day...
Yes! It’s all pretty magical that way!
Love this, and look you're already making art from your trip! I enjoyed reading through the things that you DID do (hello, Ted Lasso pub). This is usually what's happens to me when I travel too (no art until I get back) and yet I always have to bring supplies anyway because the one time I don't...
Ha, yes, I'm glad I was prepared with supplies in case I felt inspired (or just less exhausted!), but I'm also glad I let myself NOT do it. A pint at the Ted Lasso pub deserves my full attention! 😂 (I'm going to update this post to add your wonderful travel art supply post!)
Thanks Kelcey, that's so nice of you! ❤️
Thanks for making me laugh! And I love your travel sketches and story.
Thanks for laughing! That's always the highest compliment! 🥰
You did so many good things! I just got home from Idaho without any sketching - but I painted a scene later from the trip. I adore the scenes you recreated later!!!
Thanks, Amy! I feel extra pressure about living out "the habit of art" and seeing so many awesome travel journals (like yours!), but sometimes it has to happen later!
It’s SO hard! I started out doing some sketching on my past two trips, but got so engrossed in experiencing and eating and having a great time, that there was no way I could keep up! I just took a few notes and a lot of pictures and then did my sketches and writing once I got home :)
Cheers to Scandinavia- my bonus mom is Finnish and we went back last year! 😁
Omg this is validating since your Substack is literally called Sketched Journeys! 😂 So fun about your Finnish bonus mom! 🥰
Is there is similar term for stepfather? Bonus dad. I love term,
Yes! Bonusmamma and bonuspappa both work!
Love them.
This is exactly my story, Kelcey. I always pack sketchbooks, pens, paints, and brushes when I travel, only to end up using none of them. Any free time I get is usually spent writing in my diary. But on my recent trip, I decided to break that habit (on iPad mainly). Now, I’m making a point to sketch my way through it.
I didn’t mention that I also brought my iPad! But I never even took it out of my backpack! I’m glad you did—you’ve made such amazing stories!
I've learned two things about this. First, is that I've made space for sketching on trips, but rarely in the way everyone tells you to capture the big places. Usually, it is over dinner or during breaks when the scenery isn't optimal but the time is. Second, in researching for a book on creativity, I found that the norm for many, if not most, people (at least those with limited time on a trip) is this: Few creative breakthroughs happen on the trip. But then 2 weeks or so after the return...BOOM! For me, writing ideas tend to start flooding in on the fight home but sketching ideas take longer. So the best advice I've heard and have given on this is this: There are no norms. Everyone is different. It's awesome to sketch on a trip. It's also awesome to, in a way, extend the trip by weeks or months by allowing all that you became on the trip to incubate and take hold so that later, you use the experience to make something. I love how you capture all this and I hope people feel the permission not to have to do it like everyone else tells you you should.
Thanks for this, Steve! I appreciate hearing that there's some research to support this experience! As someone promoting "the habit of art," I felt bad about not travel sketching (or even wanting to), but it was freeing to just let myself get over it.
I have such a hard time sketching, especially when traveling. I love how you’ve captured this when you returned home! Very inspiring 😃
Thanks, Lisa! I've sketched while traveling before but never very successfully, so I'm glad I didn't force it!
Love how you represent your experiences as petals. Sounds like you had an amazing experience and seems soaking it up was even more productive for creativity. The pubs alone sound awesome.
Thanks for mentioning the petals, Renee! I had a whole visual metaphor in mind where the seeds fell from the flower and planted the future art...but just let it go elsewhere! (And yes, the PUBS! So fab.)
Beautiful. I especially love the pacing—the way the illustration of the beach blooms because of the space in the drawing and also where you placed it. I loved this piece
Thanks, Rebecca! I appreciate that you mention that pacing decision. I initially had the sunset written within one of the petals, but I realized it would resonate more in the post--the way it did in real life--if I separated it out, and the next thing I knew, I was drawing the sunset!
Yes!! It really grounded the piece for me. In that moment, my heart expanded, and I felt yours doing the same. Great edit!
Oh how beautiful to hear you put it that way! ❤️
Your "voice" is great!
Thanks, Marianne!
What works for someone else will not automatically work for you.
Learn what works for you and run/skip/dance with it 💜
Exactly! A hard lesson to learn sometimes!
So relatable Kelcey! Sketching back at home is great too since you get to prolong the trip :)
Oh, Carolyn, I forgot that your travel sketchbook was another that inspired me to do it! I loved how you used collage etc! (I'm going to add a link mentioning that in this post.) But yes it's fun to do some sketching after the fact!